Repeating mechanical sign apparatus.



- F. A RUDOLPH. REPEATING MECHANICAL SIGN APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1908.

\ Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

W EA 5H0 ES auPE QUALITY 1? l7 LADIES 'ASPECYALTYI 1Z1} BROADWA OPENEVENING5 Witnassea a mw g 7 F. A. RUDOLPH.

REPEATING MECHANICAL SIGN APPARATUS.

APPLIQATIONAPILBD JULY 27, 1908. v l 939,550, Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

P. A. RUDOLPH.

REPEATING MECHANICAL SIGN APPARATUS.

AiPLIGATION FILED JULY 21, 1908.

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

as will hereinafter ap FLAVEL A. RUDOLPH, OF MAPLEWOOD, MISSOURI.

REPEATING MECHANICAL SIG-N APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

Application filed July 27, 1908. Serial No. 445,504.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLAVEL A. RUD LPH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in Maplewood, in the county of St. Louis and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RepeatingMechanical Sign Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a mechanical sign apparatus whereby a pluralityof signs may be displayed in rotation and repeatedly during theoperation of the apparatus, the apparatus being so constructed as topermit of the signs being replaced from time to time by other signs.- a

Figure I is a perspective view of my sign apparatus viewed from theexterior thereof. Fig. II is a front elevation of the apparatus with thefront wall of the casing omitted. Fig. III is a vertical cross sectiontaken through the apparatus. Fig. IV is an elevation of one of the signsused in the apparatus, said sign being partially broken out. Figs. V, VIand VII are enlarged sections taken on lines V-V, VIVI, and VII VII,Fig. III.

In the accompanying drawings: 1 designates the side walls of the casingin which the operating mechanism of my apparatus is housed.

2 is the front wall of the casing provided with a sight opening 3 thatmay contain a plate 4 of transparent material, such as glass, to afforda view of the signs which are brought into position back of said sightopenings as will hereinafter appear. The front wall is also preferablyprovided with a sight opening 5 through which a clock 6 placed withinthe casing, may be viewed.

7 is the bottom of the casing and 8 is the rear wall provided with adoor 9 that controls a doorway through which access may be gained to thelower portion of the casing.

10 is the top of the casing provided at its front with a doorway that isnormally closed by a door 11 through which access to the forward uppercorner of the interior of the casing may be gained.

A designates runways in the casing of the apparatus located at the sidesthereof, that provides for the guidance of sign carriers, pear. Theserunways, as seen mostclearly in Fig. III, have a front runways.

vertical portion located immediately back of the front wall 2 and thesight-opening 3 therein, a downwardly and rearwardly extending portionleading from the lower end of the vertical portion toward the rear andlower corner of the casing and an upwardly and forwardly curved rearportion that extends from the lower termination of the last namedportion to a point above the upper ends of the forward vertical portionof the The upper ends of the forward vertical portions of the runwaysare separated from the forward and upper ends of the rear portion of therunways to provide a gap through which the signs may be introduced intothe runways when the door 11 of the casing is opened, as willhereinafter more fully appear. The runways A comprise an outer guiderail 12 and an inner guide rail 13 and one of these guide rails, forinstance that 18, is provided throughout the vertical and rearwardlyextending portions of the runways with a guard flange 14:.

15 designates the signs used in my apparatus which are preferably madeof some suitable flexible material, such as cloth or paper, and whichare conducted through the apparatus by carriers to which the upper endsof the signs are aflixed and which carriers are guided in their movementthrough the apparatus by the runways A. Each sign carrier comprises atube 16, see Fig. IV, to which the sign is attached in a suitablemanner, heads 17 at the ends of said tube, rods 18 slidably ortelescopically-fitted in the tube androllers 19 upon said rods. Therollers 19 are adapted to operate in the runways A to make completecontinuous circuits through said runways, whereby the sign carriers andsigns in the apparatus are consecutively and repeatedly brought to aposition back of the sight opening in the casing of the apparatus.

20 are hanger rods mounted in the free ends of the signs 15 andprojecting outwardly from the side edges of said signs.

21 designates supporting rails located at the sides of and interior ofthe casing of the apparatus and which are adapted to receive the hangerrods for their support during the period in which the signs are beingconducted rearwardly and again upwardly after they have been exposed toView at the front of the apparatus. The object in providing thesupporting rails 21 and the hanger rods that are supportedby said railsis to so support the free ends of the various signs that they will bemaintained in theirlproper positions relative to each other to move inexact rotation in their repeated returns to exposed positions at thefront of the apparatus and with their sign bearing faces presented .tosaid sight opening.

At the lower and rear corners of the runways A and in the outer guiderails 12 of said runways, which rails are lowermost at the pointsmentioned, are slots 12, see Figs. II and VI, that extend through boththe downwardly and rearwardly extending portion of said rails and in thelower end of the rear portions of the rails. These slots are adapted toreceive members as will hereinafter appear, by which the sign carriersare advanced or moved upwardly in the rear portions of the runways A.

22 designates an operating shaft that is journaled in suitable bearingsupports 23 mounted upon the bottom 7 of the apparatus. This operatingshaft may be driven by any suitable power, such as the motor shown at24, Fig. II. The operating shaft has adjustably secured to it pusher orlift arms 25 that are adapted to operate through the slots 12 in theouter rails of the runways A and by pressure against the rollers of thesign carriers that are lowermost in the rear portions of said runways,cause all of the sign carriers present in said rear portion to be movedupwardly a single step at a time, in order that the sign carrier that isforemost at the upper end of the rear portions of the runways will bedischarged through the front ends of said rear portions and into the gapin the runway at the upper and forward corner of the apparatus above thesight opening 3 in the front wall of the casing. The operating shaft isso driven as to provide for the operation of the pusher arms 25 upon thecarriers after they descend through the forward portions of the runways,as will hereinafter appear, and at any desired predetermined intervals.

26 is a cam wheel or controller wheel which is preferably made with amutilated rim and is fixed to the operating shaft 22 near one side ofthe apparatus.

27 desi 'nates a rock shaft extending transversely of the apparatus andlocated within the front and upper corner of the casing. This shaft isjournaled in suitable brackets 28 secured to the side walls of thecasing and it is located in front of the open forward or upper ends ofthe rear portions of the runways A.

29 are catcher arms fixed to the rock shaft 27 and adapted to be movedinto and occupy positions in front of the forward ends of the rearportions of the runways A and above the open upper ends of the verticalfront portions of said runways so that the rollers of the sign carriersmay lodge upon said catcher arms as they are discharged through thefront ends of the rear portions of the runways and be temporarilysupported above the vertical front portions of the runways.

The rock shaft 27 has fitted to it a. con necting rod 30 that leads down*ardly back of the front casing wall and is fitted at its lower end to atrip lever 31 that is ournaled in a bracket 82 attached to the adjacentside wall of the casing. The trip lever 31 has connected to it aretracting spring 33 that has a normal tendency to actuate said triplever in a manner to move the connecting rod 30 upwardly when the triplever is free of restraint and to cause it to so rotate the rock shaft27 as to move the catcher arms 25) downwardly within the open upper endsof the vertical portions of the runways A. The lower free arm 31 of thetrip lever 31 extends to the perimeter of the controller wheel 26 and isadapted to operate upon the rim of this wheel and also to enter into thegap in the wheel at intervals for a purpose to be hereinafter madeclear.

As the rollers of the various sign carriers are advanced in the rearportions of the runways A by the exertion of pressure there upon throughthe medium of the pusher arms 25 against the lowermost carrier rollers,the rollers of the lowermost carriers are moved past retaining springs34: that project into the lower ends of the rear portions of the runwaysfrom the side walls of the casing. see Figs. III and VI, and theseretaining springs act to sustain the rollers and the sign carriers, ofwhich said rollers constitute parts, from downward movement in orderthat the rollers of the next sign carrier may move into positionsbeneath the previously advanced rollers and at the bottoms of the rearportions of the runways A.

To provide against the sign carriers being delivered too rapidly throughthe forward and upper open ends of the rear portions of the runways andfor the discharge of the sign carriers individually through the ends ofthe said portions of the runways, I attach to the side walls of thecasing and within the forward ends of the rear portions of the runwaysspring brakes 35, see Figs. III and V. that serve to retard the forwardmovement of the rollers of the sign carrier next succeeding the one thatis being discharged from the rear portions of the runways.

To provide for the ready removal and introduction of the signs and signcarriers into my apparatus through the doorway at the top of the casingnormally closed by the door 11, I discontinue the outer rails 12 of therunways A back of the front ends of the rear portions of the runways asseen in Fig. III, and provide for the completion of the outer rail ofsaid runways by rail sections 12 that are carried by the door 11. Theserail sections are moved with the door 11 when it is opened, therebypermitting ready access to the front ends of the rear portion oftherunway A to alford access to the runways for the introduction andremoval of the Sign carriers.

each sign when exposed to view is suspended back of the sight opening inthe front of the casing by reason of the rollers 19 at the ends of thesign carriers resting upon the catcher arms 29 carried by the rock shaft27. Each sign remains so suspended during the period required forrotation of the controller Wheel 26 to bring the gap in said wheel tothe free end of the trip lever 31. When said gap reaches the free end ofsaid trip lever the trip lever is released and the retracting spring 33exerts a pull upon said lever to move the connecting rod 30 upwardly andas a result the rock shaft 27 is rotated so that the catcher arms 29 arelowered into the vertical front portions of the runways A and the signcarrier previously supported by said catcher arms descends through thefront and rearward extending portions of the runways to-the lower endsof the portions of the run-v ways during which period the free ends ofthe signs are supported by the hanger rails 21 that receive the rods 20in the free ends of the sign. Immediately after the sign carrier justreferred to has descended as explained, the pusher arms 25 enter intothe slots 12 of the outer runway rails and move the just previouslydescended sign carrier upwardly in the rear portions of the runways andcause it, by pressure against the preceding carrier, to advance theentire number of carriers in the rear portions of the runways to adegree sufficient to discharge the rollers of the foremost carrier fromthe forward ends of the rear portions of the runways and onto thecatcher arms 29, it being understood that said catcher arms have beenreturned to horizontal positions, due to renewed actuation of the triplever 31 by the controller wheel 26. The operations are continuouslyrepeated throughout the period of operation of the apparatus.

I have herein before stated that the rollers 19 of the sign carriers arecarried by rods 18 that are sl-idably or telescopically fitted in thetubes 16 of the carriers. The object in so constructing the carriers isto provide for their self adjustment during their movements through therunways of the apparatus in order that should they become canted theywill resume their proper positions in the runways. The inner ends of thecarrier rollers are prevented from escape from the forward portions ofthe runways while they are descending therethrough, due

to the existence of the flanges 1 1 projecting from one runway railtoward the other runway rail.

I claim: 1. In a mechanical repeatmg sign apparatus, the combination ofa caslng, circuit runways in said casing, a plurality of sign car- Inthe practical use of my Sign apparatus,

riers operable in said runways, signs carried by said carriers, meansfor imparting step by step movements to said sign carriers, and meansinterior of the circuit of, and independent of, said runways forsupporting the inner ends of said signs during the move ments of thesign carriers through the lower portions of the runways, substantiallyas set forth.

2. In a mechanical repeating sign apparatus, the combination of acasing, circuit runways in said casing, a plurality of sign carriersoperable in said runways, signs carried by said carriers, means at thebottoms of said runways for imparting movement to said sign carriers inupward and forward directions whereby said carriers are moved to thefronts and tops of the runways, and a member having connection with saidlast named meanswhereby said sign carriers are temporarily arrested atthe fronts and tops of the runways during the period that the signs areexposed to view, and previous to the descent of the carriers throughnormally unoccupied portions of the runways to the aforesaid means forimparting movement thereto, substantially as set forth.

3. In a mechanical repeating sign apparatus, the combination of acasing, runways in said casing, a plurality of sign carriers operable insaid runways, signs carried by said carriers, an operating shaft, pusherarms carried by said shaft and arranged for engagement with saidcarriers, a controller Wheel carried by said shaft, a rock shaft havingcatcher arms to receive said carriers and operable in said runways, andmeans operable by said controller wheelwhereby said rock shaft isactuated to move said catcher arms into sign carrier receiving position,substantially as set forth.

4. In a mechanical repeating sign appararatus, the combination of acasing, runways in said casing, a plurality of sign carriers operable insaid runways, signs carried by said carriers, an operating shaft, pusherarms carried by said shaft and arranged for engagement with saidcarriers, a controller wheel carried by said shaft, a rock shaft havingcatcher arms to receive said carriers operable in said runways, andspring governed means operable by said controller wheel whereby saidrock shaft is actuated to move said catcher arms into sign carrierreceiving position, substantially as set forth. FLAVEL A. RUDOLPH. Inthe presence of H. Gr. CooK, BLANCHE HOGAN.

